Latvian authorities have discovered a 10-metre-long underground tunnel that was allegedly used by migrants to enter the country illegally from Belarus, marking the first known case of migrants using a tunnel to cross Latvia’s border with its eastern neighbour.
Latvia’s border authorities detected 15 people who had entered through the underground passage near the border fence on Monday, according to Interior Minister Jānis Dombrava, who announced the discovery on Tuesday.
The incident has heightened concerns in Latvia and across the Baltic region over the use of irregular migration as a tool of pressure against European Union countries bordering Belarus.
Dombrava said the tunnel represented the first known instance in which an underground passage had been used to facilitate an illegal crossing of Latvia’s state border. He said authorities had not previously detected any signs of violations at the particular location where the tunnel was found, nor had they recorded people illegally crossing the border there.
The 15 migrants were subsequently returned to their “country of departure,” according to Latvian authorities. Officials are continuing to examine the tunnel and surrounding area to determine how it was constructed, how long it had been in use and whether other people may have used the passage to enter Latvia.
The discovery comes amid years of tensions between Latvia and Belarus over irregular migration along their shared border. Latvian authorities have repeatedly accused Belarusian authorities of facilitating or encouraging migrants to attempt to enter the European Union through its borders with Latvia, Lithuania and Poland.
Latvian officials describe the phenomenon as part of a broader “hybrid threat,” arguing that irregular migration is being exploited to place pressure on EU member states.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has been a close political ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin. His government has also maintained close ties with Moscow since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine and has taken an increasingly confrontational position toward the European Union.
The discovery of the Latvian tunnel is not without precedent in the Baltic region. Similar underground passages have previously been reported in Lithuania in connection with attempts to cross the Belarusian border. However, Latvian authorities said this was the first known occasion on which a tunnel had actually been used to cross into Latvia.
Latvia has responded by launching an operation aimed at strengthening security along its eastern frontier. The government is expected to increase surveillance and inspections in areas considered vulnerable to irregular crossings.
The Latvian State Border Guard said authorities had prevented more than 9,000 attempted illegal crossings from Belarus so far this year, underscoring the scale of the migration pressure facing the country.
The latest incident also highlights the increasingly sophisticated methods being used by people attempting to cross heavily monitored sections of Europe’s eastern borders. While fences, patrols, surveillance systems and other security measures have been deployed along the frontier, the discovery of an underground passage demonstrates the challenges authorities face in preventing irregular crossings.
Latvia, Lithuania and Poland have strengthened their borders with Belarus in recent years as the number of attempted crossings increased. European officials have accused the Belarusian government of deliberately facilitating the arrival of migrants from countries in the Middle East, Africa and Asia and directing them toward EU borders.
Belarus has rejected accusations that it is deliberately orchestrating a migration crisis, while EU governments have continued to treat the situation as a security concern.
For Latvia, the discovery of the tunnel is likely to intensify calls for greater investment in border surveillance and infrastructure. Authorities are now examining the passage and the surrounding terrain to establish whether the tunnel was created specifically for the 15 migrants detained on Monday or forms part of a wider network used to facilitate illegal crossings.
The incident comes at a time when Latvia and its Baltic neighbours remain particularly concerned about security along their borders with Belarus and Russia. The region has maintained heightened vigilance since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, with governments increasingly linking border security, irregular migration and wider national-security concerns.
Latvian authorities have said they will continue monitoring the border closely and taking measures to prevent migrants from using alternative routes to bypass existing border controls.
The discovery of the tunnel adds a new dimension to Latvia’s ongoing struggle to control irregular migration from Belarus and demonstrates the lengths to which some migrants and facilitators may go to circumvent increasingly fortified EU borders.